Please watch this TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Please share one or two takeaways from the talk. Also, please share if this talk inspired you to look at your literacy narrative differently in any way. Your response should be four to seven sentences long.
19 thoughts on “Blog Post #3: The Danger of a Single Story”
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After I watched the talk, I found my self shared same opinions about Africa and its people. Just like most of people, I thought Africans are uneducated, blindly believe in their old brutal traditions, and considered they are tribes instead of countries. Not long ago I still thought Africans do not even have internet and use telephones made decades ago, until I saw a video talked about how Africans had already use 4G smart phones for years.
The talk also changed view of stories, I realized that stories usually contained bias no matter is good or bad. If bias can be added into story by its teller, it could means other listeners can also add their thought and change whole story. The only way to get rid of those bias are listen other stories being told from a different perspective and combine it to get the pure truth
One of the many things that resonated with me was her perspective. Hearing her speak about how others viewed her from the moment she came to the U.S was captivating. It really is crazy how uninformed people are. How individuals can just assume and stereotype people based on their perception of where they come from. Adding on, the way she had the audience’s attention with humor and descriptive scenarios is something I’d like to apply to my literacy narrative. Believe it was extremely appealing and would bring my piece to life, as it did to hers.
While she was doing the ted talk, I was like how can people just assume a certain perspective base on one view. This is not true for all African Americans and I feel like human beings are so bias towards certain people. I really like how she include lots of detail in her story and some of the parts were very funny like when she say she spoke at a university where a student told her that it was such a shame that Nigerian men were physical abusers and she reply that she read a novel called “American Psycho” and a shame that they were serial killers. That student only saw one perspective and he thinks all Nigerian men are abusers. This is why you shouldn’t hear one side of the story and think it true for everyone.
One of the main takeaways I got from listening to the TedTalk is to be receptive to people and what’s around you. What I mean by this to not be like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s roommate, her roommate, once figuring out where she was from, made false assumptions about how she lived, what she can’t use, the music she listens to. All of these stereotypes that she has grown up with about the people Nigeria yet she placed them onto Chimamanda without listening to her story or asked about how she grew up. This taught me not to base ideas on people or cultures from what I know, instead, let people tell about themselves and like the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
One of the takeaways I got from the Ted Talk is how people view someone or thing in a certain way after just hearing or learning about it. She talks about how her roommate has one single story on Africans and that the roommate only views Africans in the way that they are pity and that they don’t know how to speak English. She also talks about how she had a single story on Fides family because her mother described their family as poor but if her mother has said that they are also hardworking she would have viewed them as poor but hardworking. If we all knew more than just what we learn and hear we would be able to view things differently like how Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has many different views on Americans.
After watching this TedTalk many things that I thought about Africa and its people were similar to others assumptions of Africa and its people. That not to believe or assume about others without realizing who they really are. To add on, I also realize how other things can make you believe that you cannot fit in. When she explained about reading books when she was younger and thought only people with white skin and blue eyes were meant to be in books, the foreigners. When she found and started reading other books and realized there are others. That she can relate in a way. The TedTalk made me look at my work differently such as not to be bias and not to write what I believe the reader wants to read. To be able to write the truth and how things really are.
My initial thought after she had said “I assumed books had to have foreigners in them”, was just how much I agreed and could relate to what she was saying. When I was younger and had just began writing simple stories as a kid my characters were always the same peachy “skin” color as crayola has labeled it and were always doing things that I myself never really did at home.
But after that when she really began to speak about just how ignorant I used to be and many others are, as we assume that countries in Africa were still village like and not developed. But then as she spoke I began to recall how I used to think, that African peoples probably have never even seen a smart phone. Throughout the Ted Talk however I again remembered that they have the same things we do everywhere. Modern cars, smart phones with unlimited data, and big cities bustling with businesses and people.
After watching the TED talk, I took away various factors that I felt were very obvious in today’s society. As Miss Adichie stated, she had a roommate when she traveled to the U.S. who made various assumptions about her regarding her culture and her education. The talk explained how one story or one perspective/view of something, can distort an outsider’s image of what it contains. This made me think of not judging someone until you meet them and actually get to know them. One last takeaway I had was simply a bigger curiosity of Adichie’s culture and how life is in different parts of the African land.
In my opinion I definitely understand why it may be upsetting when one makes such assumptions, but I do question why those people do not educate themselves more beforehand?
It is shameful how media and society shape our perspective of the outside world in a negative way. On the TV it is very common to see events related to aid to Africa or concerts to raise money for Africa. Therefore, our perceptions are shaped by outside sources to an extent. Anytime, we hear about Africa we always assume something negative. When Chimamanda said, “we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise” this shows how we need to have an open mind and explore rather than depending on other sources. Just because something is widely believed does not mean it is true.
Chimamanda’s TED talk was really relatable because she shows a stereotype in our society. Chimamanda said, ” The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete”. This shows that when people in our society hear about a situation from one point of view, we just assume that one experience is the truth. She also said, ” So what the discovery of African writers did for me was this: It saved me from having a single story of what books are”.Chimamanda thinks we should look at situations with more than one point of view and that’s why writers should write about their experience and point of view so it can help break the stereotype.
As I was watching Chimamanda’s TED talk, one quote that resonated with me was, “The Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti writes that if you want to dispossess a people, the simplest way to do it is to tell their story and to start with, ‘secondly.’” When I was in elementary school, it was heavily emphasized that “you don’t judge a book by its cover,” well now I believe we really need to emphasize, as how Chimamanda wonderfully stated, “There is never just a single story.” Another thing that struck me was how Chimamanda stated that a story “emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.”
One part the TED Talk that resonated with me was Chimamanda’s description of interactions with her college roommate. It reminded me of phrases that I and many other Black children had to hear growing up. “You act white.” “You talk really white.” It is the one story of how Black kids underachieve academically. That the characteristics of smart and articulate can’t possibly exist in Black youth.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reminded me that it is essential to always understand how similar everyone is across the earth. Although we are similar, the expression of our differences should always be monitored because it can cause damage when told wrong. And if it wasn’t told wrong, then there has not been enough stories to be told that captures the true and original story. Adichie has shown me that my words and stories are only a part of something greater and does not capture the entire truth.
As I listened to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s’ stories on the one perspective outlook on things, my own examples kept popping into mind. I never realized my close-minded views on certain situations especially of myself. When I first came to America and was taught how to read and write the majority of the teachers always told me that being an immigrant must have been a tough journey, that was a part of me, and maybe I should write about that. So, through all my English classes when I was told to write a story about me the thing that always popped into mind was my immigration story. This TED talk inspired me to write about a different perspective on myself.
As I finished watching Chimamanda Adichie’s talk many things came to mind. Her point of how a single story can be dangerous, relates to the way her roommate views things. I think it’s unjust that in todays society especially, we see how many of us including myself judge other people based on how they look. This can go back to the famous saying we all know “don’t judge a book by its cover” Another takeaway from this talk is the way it relates to myself in way, when I go to Colombia. Many of the people their from my dads side of the family automatically think that we have money and have everything we want, when in reality it’s not like that. Even though my parents are hard working people, living in NY is getting more expensive by the year. Therefore, what I took from this talk is that, situations like Chimamanda Adichie robs people of their dignity and we should always look for the truth. This talk helped me write my literacy narrative in a more detailed way, rather than not explain the overall facts, and hide the truth.
There has been several times I have watched this TEDtalk by Adichie and each time I understand more of what she really means by the danger of a single story. These single story are created from what we see or hear repeatedly, these things may not be true but we believe in it and put people in these stereotypes. Towards the end of the TEDtalk Adichie says the consequence of a single story is that “It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar,” and I agree with what she is saying. Single stories are created by individuals who sometimes are uneducated on what it is they are “judgin” on so this allows others go along with whatever was stated about a specific group of people. Adichie’s talk made me realize that even though we all writing our own literary narrative in different way, we are all still trying to find how we can make it our own.
There is a specific theme that is constantly brought up, The Single Story. When not given enough resources, specifically in literature, one may have a certain stereotype of a group. If given the right tools, the stereotype is broken and the stories just become that, stories meant to be enjoyed. All people are different despite being in the same nationality or even neighborhood. An example of this is how some people view Mexicans, as illegal immigrants and some even as criminals. In reality, there are many who come into the US legally and are very hardworking people with no time to do crime. Another very powerful part within the talk was when Chamamanda speaks of how changing the beginning of the story affects ones whole perspective of it. For instance, she spoke of starting the story with the arrows of the Native Americans and not with the arrival of the British. By doing this it can be viewed as the Natives living a peaceful life then were intruded by colonists who came into their territory and claiming it as theirs, alongside bringing diseases and destructive harm. When viewed in this way most people will see the colonists as the villains of the “story” rather than the heroes. In the end, this TED talk has made me realize that the beginning of the story is what will give the perspective to the reader, ultimately influencing their opinion overall.
As I was watching Chimamandas TED talk, I feel as though I was listening to my older cousin who told me to always be skeptical of media articles and stories from people. I think it’s pretty scary that if a single story is told over and over again, then whether we want to or not, we would ultimately accpet that story as the truth, therefore I fully agree with Chimamanda’s point to hear both sides’ stories first before jumping to conclusion. After hearing Chimamanda’s talk, I now know to write my literacy narrative in a way which all parties are represented to aviod spreading this “single story”.
From the readings we have done so far in this class, “Suffer Less: On Writing as Process” by Kate Eickmeyer resonated with me. I plan to approach my writing differently as a result of what I learned from this reading by spending time reading the assignment as soon as I get it. I will make sure I understand it and ask questions about it then and there, or at the next opportunity. Another reading that has resonated with me is “The Maker’s Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts” by Donald Murray. When I complete a first draft, I often consider the job of writing done. I plan to approach my writing differently as a result of what I learned from this reading by learning to read critically but constructively, to cut what is bad, to reveal what is good.